The EU has adopted a new regulation requiring Member States to conduct whole genome sequencing (WGS) on the isolates of five important pathogens during the investigations of foodborne illness outbreaks, and sets data-sharing parameters.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has released two new resource documents: a new compilation of the Food Standards Code, and a guidance document on how the agency conducts dietary exposure assessments.
If enacted during the New York State budget process in March, the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act would require food companies to disclose their use of any “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) ingredients, and would ban some additives and dyes from foods sold or made in New York or in its schools.
A new toolbox offered by FAO describes the risk assessment process used by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) regarding veterinary drug residues in animal-derived food products consumed by humans. FAO will also host a virtual launch event in February.
A recent report published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlighted the complex and fragmented oversight of the U.S. food supply, concluding that a national food safety strategy could help ensure federal agencies are working together to more successfully reduce foodborne illnesses.
Reintroduced to U.S. Congress on February 3, the Expanded Food Safety Investigation Act seeks to grant FDA the authority to collect microbial samples from concentrated animal feeding operations, also referred to as “factory farms,” during foodborne illness outbreak investigations.
This episode of Food Safety Five covers the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent ban on red dye 3, including the legal and scientific justifications for the decision, as well as external pressures from various parties leading to the ban.
The Tucson Environmental Justice Task Force has sued FDA for failing to act on a petition urging the agency to set limits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in foods.
The UK Government is proposing the addition of several foodborne and waterborne viruses, bacteria, and parasites to the list of notifiable causative agents under the Health Protection Notification Regulations, for which laboratories testing human samples are required to report positive test results.
Weather conditions associated with climate change are exacerbating the spread of Salmonella and Campylobacter, suggest researchers at the University of Surrey’s School of Veterinary Medicine.